Annals of our ancestors; one hundred and fifty years of history in the ...

214 ANNALS OF OUR ANCESTORS
That Sunday afternoon came and brought the newly wed
to Green Tree, and the children came in to meet the new
mother; the boys, Bert and John, were well-behaved but rather
stiff and cold; she kissed the little girls, Alice and Clarinda,
and seemed to want to interest them, so all passed off quietly.
I doubt not that to Aunt 'Rusha, who took in the situation,
it meant already the loss of home, and that it was only a question
of a short time when she must find another refuge. In
this she was not mistaken, for soon she went to live for the
rest of her life in Xenia, Ohio, with a niece, Mrs. Johns.
The next week the new Mrs. Morris moved her effects to
unite her interests with those of the Green Tree landlord.
She came with a determined air, and before a week had passed
wagons from Lebanon drove into the yard with long ladders
and paint pails and brushes, and then the great renovation
began. The house had stood for years with the same paint
and paper. Margaret Morris was cleanly and had her house
in order, but clung to old ways; now was to begin a new era,
and things were to be changed. This well-to-do farmer had
ready money and the new wife wanted to let the good neighbors
know that she knew how to improve existing conditions, so
the whole house was soon resounding to the music of the
scrapers of the workmen as they scraped the old whitewashed
ceilings, which were also washed, as well as the parlor walls.
Sandpaper helped off with the old green and blue paint; the
great hall was papered and the stairs carpeted; new tables,
bedsteads and spring beds were brought in, and an entire
renovation took place. Aunt 'Rusha and Grandfather Benjamin
Morris sat helplessly by and looked their wonder, though
they said nothing. They could but remember the economy
they had always practiced, but no words were spoken. Thus
it was that the old home of the Morrises changed; but I must
record that it was not beyond endurance, and things went on
with apparent smoothness. Leah Walters was a strong,
large-boned woman, capable of great endurance. She made
fine bread with barley yeast from malt she obtained from the
brewery.
I returned from Warren to Highland County again after